To Be Who You Wish
by Roselna
Summary: Have you ever wanted to be someone else? Something else? Aiirelle has. A girl of fourteen, who has lost all her family and has no true friends. Until a mysterious someone- or something- starts giving things that lead to her past, and predict her future.
1. Chapter 1

I'm really stupid, starting another story. *Shakes head in shame* But I want to do this- the more I think about the idea, the more I want to write it down. Anyway, enjoy.

* * *

I love cats- they're so cute. To be one...that would be unlike anything imaginable. Think of all the advantages! Being able to see in the dark, land on your feet every time you fall, nine lives!

But, of course. Who am I kidding? As seen by the world, I am Aiirelle. Yes, go ahead. Laugh. Call me names. Whatever. So what if that's the name my mother gave me before dying? So what if I don't have a father to change it? I don't care. I like my name. It separates me from the world. I'd rather be just who I am. The quiet girl that reads and obsesses over an animal, making no effort to fit in. Do I want to fit in? Sometimes. I have no true friends. Sure, there are allies that I can turn to- but that is all they are. Nothing more.

Someone knocked on my door. "Aiirelle?" the voice called.

"Come in, Meredith." I've been at the orphanage long enough that I know Meredith well enough to call her by her first name. Every one else calls her 'Ms. Smith'. Rather boring, if you ask me.

"I thought you might want to come to dinner," she said. But still, after all these years, Meredith still doesn't understand the fact that I don't eat all that much. I don't have a disorder or anything. Food just doesn't appeal to me- unless it's fish. I LOVE fish. Not sure why. Just do. "We're having crawfish, all the way from Louisiana," she said, trying to persuade me. Now, does that sound good.

"With the potatoes and corn?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. Crawfish are good. True, not as good a fish, but I love all the spices the cajuns put on their food.

Meredith smiled and nodded.

"Alright," I said, getting up off my bed. I have a sudden urge to dance my way to the kitchen- I'm weird like that. But for some reason, dancing is nestled into my heart and soul.

"Oh," the orphanage manager said, remembering something. "There's a package for you- came in the mail while you were at school. Sorry I forgot to tell you earlier."

"That's alright," I said. Probably just another of those stupid art club thingys. They send me books that I would have read three years ago, saying that if I want the sequel, I need to join the club. I hustled down the stairs towards the kitchen. We're a small orphanage- but I'm the oldest. The closest person to my age is an eight-year-old boy that likes to pick the lock on my door, then jump on top of me in the middle of the night with this stupid Yeti mask that he wore for Halloween last year on. I'm fourteen. And I _hate_ the Yeti. Don't ask why- stories like that have just never appealed to me.

* * *

After dinner, I grabbed the box that was wrapped with brown paper and dashed back up to my room. The thing was heavier than any of the books that ever got sent to me. And it had my exact address. Like, my room number, too. Those stupid clubs just put the orphanage address with my name.

I ran upstairs and locked the door behind me, knowing that it would only work for three hours at the most. I set the package on my bed- I can open it later. Besides, Mr. Day assigned ten pages to do out of our grammar workbooks- oh, how I loath grammar. And that man. Glancing around my room, I realized that my small stuffed panda was missing.

"Nathan," I all but hissed. I ran back out into the hallway, dashing down the hall and into the bathroom. Ping is always in the same spot- in the little cupboard above the toilet, ready to fall out into the toilet when the next person opened the little white doors. Putting the top down, I carefully opened those little doors. And grabbed Ping before he could hit the toilet- even if it's closed, I'd still rather my little buddy stay sanitary.

I rubbed Ping's head, thinking about the first time Nathan stole him from me. Lucky I ended up opening the cupboard, instead of someone else. I walked back to my room, turning to the right to settle at my desk and do the stupid grammar. And that's where my breath disappeared. There- it's sitting there! The box! I know I put it on my bed- I know that. I am _not_ going insane. If I didn't go insane two years ago, I'm defiantly not going insane now.

You know what? Grammar can wait. Today's Friday. I have tomorrow, and Sunday. I just want to take care of this box- before anything else weird happens. I picked the thing up and almost carried it to my bed again. Deciding to just do it here, I got out my scissors- Meredith says only ten and up can have their own pair- and cut the string binding the package. I ripped the paper off, then used the scissors to slit the tape.

Carefully opening the flaps, I peered inside. There's a note-

'Your wish has been granted.'

What the heck does that mean? My wish- which one? I've had so many. What a rip off though. And how can a not weigh that much? Wait a second. There's more.

I dug into the box, pulling out a clear plastic makeup kit, lined with soft black leather. There's a label on it- HOLY CROW! BEN NYE? Seriously? The best make-up ever? Wait a sec- IT'S NOT MAKE UP! IT'S FACE PAINT!

Did I mention that I've always wanted face paint? I've designed numerous cats- and I have one in particular that I love. I've always wanted to have face paint to put them on. Lemme see what colors I have.

Black. Dusty gray. Pale gray. White. Silver. And pale pink lipstick. THE COLORS OF MY FAVORITE DESIGN! Not to mention some black liquid eyeliner. And another note.

'To be who you wish, midnight is always right'

What does it mean? To put on the face paint at midnight? That's probably the only time I'd be able to do it without getting started at, or have one of the little kids walk into the bathroom while I'm in the middle of doing it.

* * *

It's midnight. I decided to be a good girl and do my homework anyway. Now, should I use the face paint, or wait till it's light?

.........

To heck with light! The moon's full, and the little window in the bathroom lets in a pool of moonlight. I like moonlight better than sunlight, anyway.

*-*-*

I've finished. The design looks even better in face paint then it did as a sketch. And for some odd reason, it seems to fit my face perfectly. I'm going to go look at the moon. I don't know why, but I feel like it's the right thing to do.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

So, what did you think?


	2. Chapter 2

Hey. Incase any of you have been reading Majestic and Shimmer and are wondering why I'm updating this, it's because I'm a little ticked off with FanFiction cause I had this nice long Jellicle Ball chapter that got deleted, and I just haven't had the heart to go back and try to re-write it. It'll be here eventually. I'm not sure exactly how soon.

Violaunte: Thanks for the encouragement. I'm hoping it comes out as it does in my head.

PearlHeart: Nice to know. Hope you'll continue to love it.

Trenna Tailonia: I sure hope this has potential. I need to keep my stories up.

Interesting fact- A lot of this was written during my Home Ec. class in school last week.

* * *

I slipped in the open window. My little sister- well, I guess I have no right to call her that. She _is _older by ten minutes and sixteen seconds, but, I've been a cat for longer, so....... My little sister is there, on the bed, sleeping soundly. Her face was painted with the make-up I sent her- Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer do come in handy for some things, I guess. I never could quite understand their liking for it, even after reading their thoughts for a while. Now, to see if I can yet communicate with her.....

_Sister?_

_**What? Who are you?**_

_Tell me, what are you doing?_

_**I'm standing in that junkyard that we walk past when I have to take the little kits- no wait. Kids. That's the word. Kids to the park. Kids....kids....**_

She kept saying the word in her sleep, as if it was from another language. I smiled. So her mind is slowly changing to become one of us. Wonderful. Everything is going as planned. My sister- Aiirelle, as our mother christened her- shifted into more of a curled up ball that is natural for cats. Another good sign.

Smiling to myself again, I placed the three pieces of paper that I had brought with me on the edge of her bed for her to discover, then left through the open window.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Yes, short. But I'm doing that to minimize confusion on my switching from point of views.


	3. Chapter 3

I plan on moving along quickly with this.

* * *

I rolled in my sleep, my mind slowly waking up. The early morning sun was warming my odd-feeling skin. I mean, it feels weird. Unusual. Like there's something on top of me. But I'm vaguely aware of the blanket below my skin.

_Get up, Aiirelle. If you don't, you're sure to be pounced on by Nathan, _I thought. Only when I got up, something didn't feel right. Instead of my feet hanging off the edge of my bed when I swung around, they stuck out in front of me. You know, I'm glad I haven't opened by eyes yet. But- if I don't this'll never end..............................................................Oh. My. God.

"**AAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGH!**"

There, right were my legs should be- well, my legs are there, but they aren't _my _legs. They're black and white and silver- and more importantly, they're covered with **fur!**

Oh, my God. WHAT HAPPENED? This has got to be a dream. And then there was a noise outside my door. I instinctively tensed, and felt the fur that was covering my body and didn't belong to me rise.

"Aiirelle?"

Oh, shit. It's Meredith. What's she going to think?

"Aiirelle, I'm coming in," she said. And then the door open. I closed my eyes, waiting for the scream.

**OW!** Okay! Theory of cats having better hearing: VERY MUCH TRUE!

Meredith's deathly afraid of cats. Crap. I left the broom right next to my door.

I saw the orphanage manager run at me with the household item. She swat at me, sending me flying out the window.

! OUCH! I landed on my feet, sure, but I immediately collapsed to the ground. This is all happening in about a seven minute process. It takes me at least fifteen minutes to wake up.

I slumped over, letting blackness surround me.

* * *

(A/N: Really quick- I changed my mind about a new chapter for each new point of view.)

I snuck along behind Jerrie. He was leading around the buildings. I giggled. He shot me a glare, then 'Shhed' me. As always.

Suddenly, a scent pricked my nose. Jerrie didn't notice it. I take pride in the fact that my nose is sharper than his.

This scent is new....a cat, I can tell that much. And-

Aw, shit. A queen. In heat. Crap. Stupid queen stuff. Ugh, I gotta distract Jerrie before he catches- too late.

He perked up. "Wha's tha'?" he asked. Then he darted towards the place where the scent was coming from. Sure enough, there's a queen lying there. Unconscious, by the looks of it.

I threw myself between my brother and the stranger. "No, Jerrah," I said. "Oi can take care of i'. Bu' Oi need you tuh go an' ge' Jennah or Jellah fo' meh," I said, pointing in the direction of the junkyard. It's only a little ways from here.

He gave me a funny look. "Aww, but Teazah...Oi jus' wanna ge' a bettah look a' 'er," he said, trying to get around me.

I threw my bag of loot on the ground and pushed him back. "Trus' meh, no you don'. Now, ge' your butt back tuh the junkyard and ge' JELLAH OR JENNAH FO' MEH!"

I yelled that last bit, just to get my point across. Mungo rolled his eyes and muttered something about queens. But he turned and headed off quickly. Hopefully he'll return that fast.

After I was sure he was gone, I knelt down next to the stranger. You know, she looks like Coricopat. Like, exactly like Coricopat. Just a queen. I gently shook her and whispered, "'ey. Ge' up."

* * *

Ooooh, my head......I must have slept really funny last night. Weirdest dream ever. I woke up, and I had fur! Sure soun-

OH MY GOD, IT WASN'T A DREAM! I can feel the fur. I groaned and opened my eyes, only to see a pair of coffee brown ones hanging over me. I gasped and jerked up, causing the brown eyes to dart out of the way.

Immediately after sitting up, I regretted it. My head started pounding and I felt dizzy. Moaning, I carefully laid back down.

"Careful, there," a voice said. I assume it belongs to those brown eyes. A face appeared over me. It was a queen- wait, how do I know that? There's only one female animal called a queen and that's a-

"CAT!" I screeched, shooting up. I scaled a tree that was outside the window I had fallen out of.

"Now, don' you go all hypocritical," she said, standing up on two paws and putting her front paws on her hips. She was a black, orange and white tabby, with more white than the other colors. Suddenly, from behind me, I heard the panting of two other cats. One is another tabby, almost identical to the queen, but with more black than while. And there's another queen- an older one.

The older queen lifted her nose into the air, then turned around to the other two cats. "Mungojerrie," she said. I'm assuming that Mungojerrie is a boy and is the one that just ran here. "You go back to the junkyard. Now," the queen said.

Mungojerrie looks like he wants to argue. But the older queen just gave him the look, and he turned around and stalked off.

Then the queen turned on me. "Please come down. We need to get you somewhere where the toms can't get to you," she called.

My voice always chooses the most inconvenient times to desert me. Like now. So I'm settling for shaking my head.

"Please, sweetie. You're in heat. You're very lucky Rumpleteazer was here, and not just Mungo," she said, gesturing to the tabby queen, who grinned cheekily and waved.

I reluctantly climbed down the tree. Despite my situation, with the heat and all- Don't look at me like that. Of course I know what heat is. I told you I loved cats earlier, didn't I?

Anyway, despite my situation, I marveled at how much easier it is to move about as a feline.

When I reached the ground the older queen came towards me. "I'm Jellylorum," she said. The queen looked at me closely.

"Doesn' she look loike Cori?" Rumpleteazer said. Jellylorum walked around me, sizing me up.

"How strange," she muttered. "A queen replica of Coricopat."

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Do me a favor and tell me what you thought of this by clicking the little box below this. I have a traffic sheet, people! I know I got 19 hits today, just on that really short chapter from earlier!


	4. Chapter 4

The forth chapter- yes, fourth. FanFiction spazzed and didn't move this above Majestic and Shimmer when I updated.

* * *

I followed Jellylorum and Rumpleteazer. They know where they're going. Me? Not so much. I simply followed, taking in the surroundings that I am so familiar with now towering above my head. Jellylorum kept glancing around nervously.

Suddenly, something appeared in front of us. Jellylorum hissed and bared her claws, while Rumpleteazer backed up towards me.

And then the older queen relaxed. "Oh," she sighed. "It's you." Then she turned towards me. "This is Coricopat," she said. "He has an aura that repels heat-scent. Cori, this is...that's odd. I forgot to ask for your name," she finished, turning to me.

"Aiirelle," I said. I stared at the tom. He was looking right back at me with stormy gray eyes. The eyes look familiar.....wait.....they're _my_ eyes.......I think I gasped.

In the moment we gazed at each other, something clicked. All of the sudden, when I focused on him, I could hear a soothing voice in my head, saying "_What? Why is she here? It wasn't supposed to happen yet!"_

Coriocpat's face remained calm, however. "If you would excuse me, Jelly. Teazer." And just like that he slipped by. And he didn't even acknowledge me! RUDE!

Jellylorum looked after him with an odd look. "Funny," she said. "Normally Cori's very civil. He doesn't run away like that very often."

"Eh. 'e's done tha' tuh meh befo'," Teazer said. Jelly looked at her like 'Really?'

"Teazer, honey," she said. "You're a thief. Did you ever take something of his?" Wait, what? Thief?

I noticed that the tips of Rumpleteazer's ears turned pink. "Well....uh....maybeh?"

Jellylorum smiled. "There's why. And we better get back to the junkyard soon."

Rumpleteazer nodded, then they hustled me down the street. Eventually we came to a junkyard. I've passed this junkyard when I've taken the younger kits- WAIT, no, they're kids. Not kittens. Ugh. Anyway the KIDS to the park. There. I got it.

We passed a silver tabby on the way in. He started to approach, but Teazer cut him off. "Eh-heh. Uhm....'ere's your collah, Munk," she said, holding a black collar with silver studs in it up to him. The tom's paw flew to his throat, and Teazer made a 'go on' motion with her paw behind her back. Jelly steered me in and took me to a den.

"This is the queen's part of the medical den," she announced. It was rather cheerful, with a few pillows strewn here and there. I studied Jelly as she bustled about, and her voice filled my head. "_Looks exactly like Coricopat....why? Perhaps that's why he ran away so suddenly. But she's in heat....must keep the toms away. For once, thank the Everlasting Cat for Teazer being a burglar."_

Puzzling. I can read minds...THAT IS SO COOL!

Then there was a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Jelly called.

"Coricopat. I'd like to speak with A- the queen you found," he said.

He knows my name. Does that surprise me really? Not particularly.

"Okay. Come in," Jelly said.

The silver tom slipped in, moving smoothly. He came and stood by me, his frame about an inch taller. "I'd like to talk to her alone, Jellylorum."

The creme queen raised an eyebrow, but left the den without object.

Coricopat let out a breath.

**_Thank Heavyside that wasn't Jenny. Jellylorum is much more relaxed and laid back._**

_How are you talking to me?_

_**You're my other half. I'm your other half. We're the telepathics, once one, but split in half on a malfunctioning journey to the Heavyside Layer. Have you ever wondered why you seemed more catlike than most? Or that you have a knack for good guessing and reading people's moods? All signs of the telepathic. I was surprised that they showed up while you were human.**_

_Wait, if I'm supposed to be a cat, why was I a human? _

_**Again, malfunction in Heavyside. The Everlasting Cat isn't perfect, you know. All these terms are rather familiar, aren't they?**_

_...Yes..._

_**That's your past lives. We are the sixth telepathics. There will be three more after us.**_

_...Okay..._

_**Please don't faint. It will do no good for when Jelly comes back.**_

_Well, I can't control wether I faint or not!_

_**Temper, temper.**_

_Hush up!_

_**I will when I want.**_

_Coricopat!_

_**See? **_

I stopped for a moment. The bickering seemed second-naturish. Like I was supposed to.

**_Told you._**

_Don't go reading my mind! My thoughts are PRIVATE._

**_Your mind is my mind. Split in Heavyside, remember? We can't hide much from each other._**

_Well that's gunna do me real good._

_**Oh, so not only do we have a temper, but we're sarcastic too, huh?**_

I shot a glare at the tom standing before me, who smirked back.

_Jelly's coming back._

_**I know. I was waiting to see how long it would take you.**_

The creme queen walked back in. She looked from my narrowed eyes to Cori's smirk.

"Jelly, I'd like you to meet my sister, the other telepathic," he said.

Jellylorum's face broke out in a smile. "Well, it certainly took you a while to find your way back now, didn't it dear? Why, the last telepathics were before my time, and then when Coricopat showed up by himself instead of with a twin, we were dumbstruck. But I'm afraid you will still need to stay here while we wait for heat to pass. I reckon it will be over in about four days. You're at about the hight of it. And until then, he," she said, pointing at Coricopat, "Will have to stay away. I'm sorry, but it's the rule."

"That's alright, Jelly," Cori said, nodding curtly as he made his way for the door. "I will be seeing you, Sis," he called.

And old grudge bubbled up inside of me. "Don't call me sis!" I yelled at him. I heard his chuckle as he left the medical den.

* * *

Five days later, I was introduced to the rest of the tribe. And later that day, I was taken to Old Deuteronomy.

"Welcome to Aiirelle. These are her last moments with that name. For she is about to reveal to us, her Jellicle Name," he announced to the other cats.

I had conversed with the leader during my stay at the medical den. Being the Jellicle Leader, he was able to speak telepathically, though not one himself.

I stepped forward with a smile on my face.

**_Your eyes are shining with pride, you know._**

_I'm proud of myself for figuring out my name so quickly._

_**That would be a good reason for eyes shining with pride.**_

"I am Tantomile," I said. "Witch's cat.

* * *

**~FIN~**

This was never intended to be a long story. Simply some practice for writing in first-person.

Login: Well, you know now.

Olliv Lynn Sulam: Yeah, pretty much. But it makes them irresistible to toms, it happens twice a year, and it's the only time they can get pregnant.

givetherabbitthefreakintrix: Well, now you know. It's Tantomile.

All done! Thanks to the people who've read and reviewed this story!


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